That Mahalo store ROCKS! Very cool to see your work in there Wendy. Looks like yer having fun. Of course all your new stuff is fantastic. I like those shrunken beheaded heads that may make the brew inside come to a head, the monkeys and well... everything on the Wendy and Dan show.

Grog, Dan in ape form looks slightly Amish. Maybe a tropical Amish... gorilla? Does Dan need to share anything with all of us?

Wendy, I'm shocked, ( & touched) that you have referred to my lowbrow skill as a useful tip. Of course, when you do it, it looks amazing. Figures. Show-off.

I've been learning from watching you work through your step by steps, it's really improved my carving technique & clay manipulating skills. I'll learn even more if you're working in a similar way (though recently I've taken a different approach to a mug, which feels very foreign to me (foreign, not Amish, that is).

The SH mugs continue to look great, and I'm excited to see more progress on the Crawl Mug- even more so since I signed up to get one...

littlegiles the sculpt of the crawl mug as shown below is at 12 1/2 inches. I don't know if that is tall enough. The clay is very hard, you can't even press a fingerprint into the block of clay. But it is oil based and will melt. So I do that and when its mushy I can apply it. Then I can carve it or mold it with tools.

VampiressRN isn't this turning into a fun year. Not only do we get Mahalo Tiki store we get Dr. Tiki Mojo and Eva moving to Elk Grove and making another tiki home for the crawl.

hang10tiki they are all so cute, thank you. I've got to get Dan in here so I can hear him laugh.

TikiAno first Dan said to tell everyone that he's Italian and really looks like that ape when he showers. The little white box that I melt clay in...that was originally for wax. He had me wax off all the hair on his back a couple of times but when he found out it just grows back he gave up.

I started doing ceramics for the first time the summer or 2010. Before that Gecko cast all my sculpts. He still is doing a few. I will always be learning from others who love clay, that means you.

I'm feeling good about the crawl mug. I always want them to be different in some way. This being HUGE will make it different.

I saw Joe Banks post this of GROG and I didn't want any of you to miss it.
There should be a GROG toy. He's so cute.

Thank you everyone for all the kind or funny comments.

Progress Report:

I tried to push on some clay but after 20 minutes I only had a small ring around the top.

So I started melting the clay and I would add it to the top like frosting on a cake.

littlegiles wanted to know how it compared to my Zombie Torch mug from last year. Here's the front of each

as well as the backside of each.

After already painting the heads for three hours yesterday this is as far as I got in the evening. I did take some time off hang10tiki.

Thanks Wendy I am looking forwards to that day too! I posted some progress shots you requested so you can see how its coming along. Meanwhile I have the Wendy and Dan show to entertain me. I gotta ask...how exactly do you melt clay to the consistency of frosting? You can't microwave it can you?

Wendy, if that mug gets any taller you'll have to fire them one layer at a time! Looking good Jon ~ Grog, Dan and I look like "The 3 Amigos" in their waiter day job. Dusty, Ned, & Lucky _________________When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House